Half-term Rookie QB report

This year has seen many teams investing in their newly drafted rookie talent, but have the kids made the grade?

Cam Newton (B+)

Two 400+ yard passing games, over 100 yards on the ground, nine total touchdowns and over 1300 yards altogether equate to arguably the best start a rookie QB has ever had. But a record of 1-3 is not what these stats should get you.

Newton still has to learn how to dictate a game like the Tom Bradys of this world. It is noticeable, that his worst game, against the Jags (admittedly in very poor throwing conditions) was the game that the Panthers won, not the games where Cam threw 400+ yards. You could attribute the losses to other parts of the team, but if Peyton Manning threw 400+ yards and three TD’s in any game, he would be winning it.

I think the Jacksonville game just illustrates that Newton must begin to do the simple things better, as he had to in the torrential rain, and not look for long bombs downfield every other play. Sometimes a 15 play drive is better for a team than a three play drive.

Andy Dalton (C+)

Due to Newton’s blockbuster start to the season, Dalton has slipped quietly under the radar and lead the Bengals, a team that I originally wrote off as a 2-14 team, to an encouraging 2-2 start, including a victory over the previously undefeated Buffalo Bills.

However, it’s not been all fantastic for Dalton, a shocking performance against the 49’ers cost Cincinnati another win, and despite a much better effort a week before against Denver, he still didn’t have enough to pull his team back, and they eventually fell to a 22-24 loss.

(NB: The Bengals could be 4-0?)

But with his main weapon, AJ Green also a rookie, you cannot criticise Dalton too heavily, and for me he has been solid at worst, there could be more to come from the ex-TCU man.

Blaine Gabbert (D)

Thrust into the action when Luke McCown unbelievably failed to impress (ahem), Gabbert has felt his way slowly into the Pro-football offense in Jacksonville, until coach Jack del Rio called 42 pass plays against the Saints.

It looks like Gabbert has been given the weight of the world to keep on his shoulders, maybe to make sure that MJD stays fresh and productive, but more likely, to show that he is ready to be the face of the franchise. Something that will be difficult given the lack of real playmaking talent for the Missouri product to throw to.

His 16 completions against New Orleans show that his accuracy will need to improve as he grows into his new role, but the Jags have to give him targets. TE’s Marcedes Lewis and Zach Miller could be Gabbert’s way around this problem for the time being, but wideout Mike Thomas running routes in double coverage simply isn’t enough.

There are also a couple of QB’s waiting in the wings, who may get their chance soon:

Christian Ponder

The Florida State graduate simply has to play. The Vikings are 0-4 and Donovan McNabb is causing more problems than he is solving. Minnesota’s passing game is virtually non-existent, and so teams stack the box against Adrian Peterson. And no matter how good AP is, he can’t run over 11 opposition players, and so the Vikes lose.

Minnesota have also thrown away half time leads in three games already this campaign, and Leslie Frazier has nothing to lose in terms of game management at the position, because McNabb has done nothing helpful in that respect either.

It will be interesting to see when Ponder gets the chance to impress, and what happens if he does, because I have a sneaking feeling that the Vikings, like many other teams, like the look of a certain Mr Luck.

Colin Kaepernick

San Francisco are 3-1, so Alex Smith has earned a reprieve from abuse for now and Kaepernick won’t be playing anytime soon. And with Jim Harbaugh as head coach, as he was at Stanford University, the home of that man Andrew Luck, you sense that if the ex-Nevada QB doesn’t play soon, he may well lose his chance, whether the 49’ers are successful or not.

It is always a difficult ask to be thrown into the melee as a rookie NFL Quarterback, but some make better fists of it than others.

2011 has to be branded as the year of the QB, as the NFL has shifted hugely towards being a passing league, and Cam Newton may well have the best rookie season ever over the coming months, but one thing you have to wonder is – how long will people be saying that?

The game is falling perfectly for another to make an even bigger impact. Stand up Andrew Luck.